出版与作家生涯2009genreality.net
《纽约时报》畅销书榜上的一本书的真实收入
Revenue reality of a book on the New York Times best-seller list
导读
一位登上《纽约时报》畅销榜的作者公开了单本的实际净收入（约2.45万美元），而出版社同期毛收入约45万美元，由此引发关于图书经济学的一场讨论。对写作者的价值在于：它把「写作收入」从模糊的想象变成可核算的数字，也让人重新思考出版社、渠道、作者各拿多少、各担什么风险。
可以直接用的写作要点
- 01
算写作收入要看「一年能写几本 + 后续版税和其他版权收入」，而不是拿单本净利当成全年收入。
- 02
一本书的零售价有一半以上被销售渠道吃掉，作者的边际收益甚至可能低于一个带客的联盟推广者，所以懂分发和营销是写作者自己的事。
- 03
自出版能否划算，关键不在「出版社拿走多少」，而在你能不能靠自己卖出传统路线的 5%–10%；先积累一小群真实粉丝再谈脱离出版社。
- 04
出版社拿大头的同时也承担全部风险、垫付成本并为失败的书买单，作者实际上是用高比例分成换稳定，判断这笔交易值不值要看它带来的销量是否配得上这个价。
HN 评论精选
批评原文的算法：单本收入不等于年收入，还漏算了后续版税和一年写多本的情况。
我对这种算法不太同情：她的2.4万美元是「单本」数字，然后又说「如果我每年写一本这样的书」——可写大众平装本的作者大多一年不止写一本，她本人一年就出好几本。而且她后面还能拿到剩余预付版税和其他版权收入，把这本书今年的「收入」说成2.5万并不公平。作为职业作者，她今年既有这本书的钱，也有以往书的钱，以后还能持续从这本书进账。
mquander查看英文原文
I'm not too sympathetic, on account of the following: - Her figure of $24K is per book, and then she says (paraphrased) "well, if I were to write one book like this a year." Most authors producing mass-market paperbacks write somewhat more than one per year. The author in question appears to write several per year (looking at the Amazon listings) which probably gross a fairly similar amount. So, what's the meaning of this "if I were to write one" business? - She expects to see the rest of her advance and some non-negligible amount of money coming in in the future from royalties and other rights, so it's not really fair to say that her "income" from this book is $25,000. As a professional author, she would be earning that $25,000 this year and also earning money from prior sales this year, and then she would be earning more from this book later. - Finally, here's the Amazon synopsis: Immortal Darkyn Lord Valentin Jaus and landscape artist Liling Harper are two lost souls. Brought together by fate, bound together by passion, Valentin and Liling find solace in each other's arms. But the ties that bind them are deeper—and more dangerous—than either of them can possibly imagine... No offense to struggling vampire romance novel writers, but why is it important that people are able to earn a great living writing books like this? I don't think it's a big loss to society if people aren't getting rich at this particular trade. When authors who are really advancing the art can't make a good living, then let me know.* * No, this isn't totally subjective. People will be reading Pynchon 30 years from now, but they won't be reading Lynn Viehl.
零售渠道吃掉一半以上书价，作者必须自己掌握线上营销并尽量去中介化。
比起那些必须依附实物的知识产权，我们做软件和服务的真是太幸运了。如果你觉得出版社对作者来说是浪费钱，不妨想想零售商从这笔交易里拿走了什么：像大多数零售商品一样，书必须按「梯形加价」定价才能赚钱，也就是说你买书付的钱里有一半以上被销售终端拿走了。这带来了很荒唐的结果——一个亚马逊联盟推广者促成一单《坏吸血鬼与爱上他的图书管理员》的边际销售，拿到的钱差不多和作者一样多。（我在调侃，但我这个月确实在 Kindle 上花了 50 美元买都市奇幻，所以是善意的调侃。）我弟弟正想入行写作。对金字塔尖以外的作者来说，这需要无休止地参加签售、跑宣传来建立粉丝群、把书推到零售规模——说得直白点，这太疯狂了。作者必须更懂在互联网上营销自己的书，并尽可能绕开中间环节。
patio11查看英文原文
We have it ridiculously fortunate selling software/services relative to folks whose IP requires a physical embodiment. If you think the publisher is a waste of money from the perspective of the author, why not consider what retailers get out of the transaction? Like most retail products, books need to be keystoned to make money, which means 50%+ of the price you pay for the book gets absorbed by the point of sale. This has truly perverse effects such as an affiliate for Amazon who generates one marginal sale of Bad Vampires And The Librarians Who Love Them getting just about as much as the author does out of the marginal sale. (I mock but I spent $50 this month on "urban fantasy" on my Kindle, so it is good natured mocking.) My little brother is trying to break into writing. For authors below the tip-top, it requires endless participation in book signings, tours, and whatnot to build a fan base and, essentially, move books at retail scales. This is, not to put too fine a point on it, insane. Authors need to get savvier about marketing their books on the Internet, and disintermediating as many players as metahumanly possible. (I've got high hopes for the Kindle bringing book readers kicking and screaming into the mainstream. Granted, at the moment it makes you about as dependent on Amazon and your publisher as you've always been. However, if it goes iPod and moves the core book buyers from buying paper to buying bits, then you could have alternate business models like "Thanks for buying Vampire Loves Sarcastic Female Mechanic last week. It is the first book in a planned series of seven. For only $49.99 you can buy a membership in the VLSFM fan club, which in addition to our exclusive newsletter gets you the next 6 books of the series -- each delivered a month before street date directly to your registered device. Be the envy of your friends!")
出版社拿九成收入但也担全部风险；自出版成立的前提是你能卖到传统路线的 5%–10%。
有读者留言说：「作为作者，我还是不明白为什么出版社赚大钱而我们只拿这么一点。是的，他们承担风险、出钱、做推广，可要是我们不写，他们根本没东西可卖。所以我下一本书要自出版，我算过只要卖出传统路线的 10%，收入就比从出版社拿的多，有互联网和一点粉丝基础，我觉得可行。」这种心态是对的：目前出版社拿走 90% 以上的收入，同时也承担全部风险、资助那些失败的书。作者是在用高风险换稳定，只是这个汇率看起来很高。我不认为出版社今天乃至近期对分发和推广的垄断强到别人完全没机会。如果这位留言者错了、自己连 5%–10% 的销量都卖不到，那出版社拿的钱就是它应得的价值。作者可以试着做出版社做的事：在网上直接面向读者推广和销售（我猜全部图书销量中线上已超过 10%，只要能保住线上销量、完全放弃实体书店，就已经达标）。「1000 个铁杆粉丝」（或者 1 万个）或许是可行路径。
netcan查看英文原文
From the comments: Thanks for sharing this. As a writer, I still don’t understand why we receive such a small pay check when the publisher reaps big profits. Yes, they take the chance, put up the money, and promote the book, but they would have nothing to sell if we didn’t write the book. Because of that, I’m self publishing my next book. I figure that I only need to sell 10% of what I would through a publisher to make more money than I would receive from them. With the internet and a modest fan base I think this is possible. This is the correct mindset. Currently publishers take 90%+ of the revenue. They also take all the risk & also fund the unsuccessful publications. Authors are trading risk for stability at (what seem like) a high exchange rate. I don't believe that today & into the near future publishers really have such a monopoly over the distribution & promotion of books that no one else stands a chance of succeeding. If the commenter is wrong & can't sell 5%-10% the number of books on his own, then the publishers are adding the value that they are getting paid for. They could try to do what the publishers do. They could promote & sell direct to public online (I imagine >10% of all book sales are online, so if you can keep the number of online sales consistent while writing off brick & mortar entirely, you beat your goal). 1K true fans (or maybe 10k true fans) may be a viable approach. Maybe the author can do the direct to public thing & sell books at a fraction of normal retail price. I'd order a lot of books if they cost $3. The problem with all this is obviously that the author then needs to be good at both writing & "publishing." For this to be scalable, there needs to be a wider structure that works for writers that are only good at writing. Then again, maybe that kind of structure exists and costs 90%+ of revenue.
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